Bag construction



March 13, 1962 A. A. MEISTER BAG CONSTRUCTION Filed March 10, 1958 March 13,1962 A. A. MEISTER BAG CONSTRUCTION 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed March 10, 1958 be ILtU 7- A/ ber L Mezlsfer 3,024,962 BAG CONSTRUCTION Albert A. Meister, Chicago, Ill., assignor to Bagcraft Corporation of America, Chicago, 11]., a corporation of Illinois Filed Mar. 10, 1958, Ser. No. 720,248 6 Claims. (Cl. 229-62) This invention relates generally to the construction of an end of a fiexible bag, and more specifically to a stiffener incorporated therein.

Although the principles of the present invention may be included in the construction of various bags, a particularly useful application is made in bags which are intended for use with a display rack. In particular, when bags of flexible material, such as of thin polyethylene, are filled with contents of an appreciable weight, they typically become rather distorted, especially at their upper part, when they are supported in depending fashion along their upper end from a display rack. Typically, information about the goods may be carried by or at the upper end of the bag and when the bag is thus distorted, not only does an unsightly result occur, but the information carried at the upper end becomes difficult or impossible to read.

The present invention contemplates the provision of a stiffening member in the upper end of the bag to aid in the support thereof on the rack. The stiffening member may take various forms, and may be heat-tacked or heat-sealed to the bag material. The stiffening member may be disposed either inside or outside the bag, and may be used as a reclosing aid. Printed information may be carried by the stiffener, or on a separate header extending along the stiflfening member. If desired, a tear string may also be provided. The weight of the filled bag is directly or indirectly carried by the stiffening member which is, in turn, supported by a hook or clip on the display rack. The stiffening member has sufficient stiffnesss in a vertical direction to thus hold the upper end of a bag in a generally straight smooth manner.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an end closure for a bag by which the bag may be suspended or displayed.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved bag wherein a stiffening means is employed to insure straight smooth display of the upper end of the bag.

Yet another object of the present invention is to provide an end closure for a bag which effects straight smooth display of the bag and which may be used as an aid in reclosing the bag.

Many other advantages, features and additional objects of the present invention will become manifest to those versed in the art upon making reference to the detailed description and the accompanying sheets of drawings in which several preferred structural embodiments incorporating the principles of the present invention are shown by way of illustrative example.

011 the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a front elevational view of a rack displaying a filled bag provided in accordance with the principles of the present invention;

7 FIGURE 2 is a side elevational view of a slightly different rack displaying a bag provided in accordance with the principles of the present invention;

FIGURE 3 is a fragmentary perspective view of a stiffening member used in certain embodiments of the present invention;

FIGURE 4 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view taken along line IV-IV of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 5 is generally similar to FIGURE 4, but of a slightly different embodiment of the instant invention;

States Patent 0 "ice FIGURE 6 is also similar to FIGURE 4, but of a still further slightly modified form of the instant invention;

FIGURE 7 is a still further embodiment of the instant invention;

FIGURE 8 is a view taken generally along the line VIIIVIII of FIGURE 7;

FIGURE 9 schematically illustrates how the embodiment of FIGURE 7 may be manufactured from a continuous supply of bag material;

FIGURE 10 illustrates an embodiment generally similar to FIGURE 5 which has been provided with a header;

FIGURE 11 illustrates a still further embodiment generally similar to that shown in FIGURE 10;

FIGURE 12 illustrates another form of stiffening member which may be used in certain embodiments in place of the member shown in FIGURE 3;

FIGURE 13 illustrates an embodiment employing the member of FIGURE 12 in a manner similar to that shown in FIGURE 5 FIGURE 14 illustrates a feature which may be provided in the structure shown in FIGURE 13 and how it is used to support the bag on a still different form of rack;

FIGURE 15 illustrates an embodiment employing the member of FIGURE 12 with a header such as shown in FIGURE 11; and

FIGURE 16 illustrates a bag construction employing a still different form of header combined with other previously shown features.

As shown on the drawings:

The principles of this invention are particularly useful when embodied in a flexible bag such as illustrated in FIGURE 1, generally indicated by the numeral 10. The bag includes an upper end closure 11 and a lower end closure 12, and is shown tocontain a pair of articles 13. The drawing also includes a rack 14 having a hook 15 which projects through the end closure 11 to display the articles 13 in a manner such that the upper portion 16 of the bag 10 is held in a generally flat smooth condition to facilitate reading imprinting 16a thereon.

This bag, as well as the others illustrated herein, may be provided with a mouth at the end closure 11 which is closed thereby during its manufacture, the lower end closure 12 being left open for subsequent filling therethrough and sealing.

While various materia.s may be utilized in the manufacture of the bag, this invention is particularly useful when taken with materials which have a high degree of flexibility, and which are transparent so as to reveal the contents thereof during display. An example of such a material is polyethylene. This material also has the property of being fusible or heat-scalable.

Referring now to FIGURE 3, there is shown a stiffening member 17 which forms a part of the end closure .11. The stiffening member 17 is deflection-resistant and may comprise any material of suitable stifiiness for certain embodiments disclosed herein. As will become more apparent later, in certain embodiments, the member 17 must comprise heat-scalable material, or be coated on one or two of its fiat sides with heat-fusible material.

Referring now to FIGURE 4, the structure of the end closure 11 is shown in greater detail. the bag 10 is provided with edge portions 18 and 19 along its mouth, between which is disposed the relatively stiff elongated member 17. In this embodiment, the edge portion 18 of the bag is fused with the one side of the stiffening member 17, while the edge portion 19 is fused with the opposite side of the member 17. In this figure, the heat-fused joint is illustrated for convenience and clarity with a solid heavy line at the opposite surfaces of the member 17. The presence of a heavy line at one surface In this structure,

3 of the member 17 in other figures likewise illustrates a heat-sealed or fused joint therewith. It will be noted that a transversely directed hole 20 extends through the edge portions 18 and 19 of the bag and also through the stiffening member 17 for receiving the hook 15 as shown in FIGURE 1.

It is to be understood that the thickness of the material from which the bag is made has been greatly exaggerated for the purposes of clarity, and in an actual embodiment would be but less than one to a few thousandths of an inch thick, while the size of the structure shown in FIGURE 4 might otherwise represent approximately the actual size of the end closure. Thus when the bag 10 is suspended as shown in FIGURE 1, the stiffening member 17 extends in a generally horizontal direction, and is so disposed and arranged that it is supported by the rack, and that it edgewise supports the weight of the bag and its contents in a depending fashion. The member 17 must therefore have a sufficient stiffness in a vertical direction to prevent any substantial sagging at the ends to thereby preclude any sagging, wrinkling or distortion of the bag itself. Thus the bag is displayed in a straight and smooth manner, and any imprinting 16a carried on the bag itself will be easily readable. It is to be understood that the stiffener 17 may also be provided with imprinting 17a thereon, particularly where the material from which the bag 10 is made is transparent. Thus a neat and readily legible appearance is presented which further enhances the desirability of the product displayed.

It is to be understood that the basic concept illustrated by FIGURE 4 may be included in various embodiments, and be provided with different variations. Accordingly, a slightly different embodiment is shown in FIGURE 5. This structure is identical to that shown in FIGURE 4, except that the hole 20 has been omitted, and in place thereof, a hole 21 has been provided which extends through the bag material immediately below the stiffening member 17. With this structure, the book supports the member 17 as described above, which member in turn supports the bag in depending fashion. While the structure shown in FIGURE 5 is advantageous, the structure shown in FIGURE 4 has the additional advantage of having a hole defined by material which is resistant to tearing.

Referring now to FIGURE 6, a still further embodiment is illustrated which is generally similar to that shown in FIGURES 4 and 5, except that the edge portions 18 and 19 have been sealed to each other and that the stiffening member 17 has been sealed to one of the edge portions 19. Thus in this structure, if the stiffening member 17 be coated with a heat-sealable material, such coating is needed on only one side of the member 17. The structure shown in FIGURE 6 may be provided with the aperture 20 as shown in FIGURE 4, or the aperture 21 as shown in FIGURE 5. However, the hole may be omitted and the bag be supported by a clip 22 acting on the upper end closure 11 as best shown in FIGURE 2. Thus any of the structures shown herein may be supported in this manner. As before, imprinting 17a may be carried on the stiffening member 17 of FIGURE 6 on either the heatsealed side or on the exposed side. It will be noted that the structures shown in FIGURES 4, 5 and 6 have an inverted Y-shaped sectional configuration with the stiffening member 17 comprising a portion of the leg of the Y-shape.

Referring now to FIGURE 7, there is illustrated the upper end of a bag having a U-shaped section at its upper end, generally indicated by the numeral 22. The U-shaped section includes a pair of legs 23 and 24 joined together by a bight portion 25. A stiffening member 17 is received between the legs of the U-shape and is disposed in engagement with the bight of the U to dependingly support the bag therefrom in edgewise relationship. As before, an aperture 26 may be provided to extend through the bag material and the stiffening member 17. In this embodiment, the stiffening member need not comprise heat-sealable material, nor need it have such a coating. In this structure, the edges of the fiat sides or legs of the bag are heat sealed together as at 27 in FIGURE 8. The heat 27 seal thus extends along the ends of the stiffening member 17 and up against it to tack it in place, whereby during handling, the weight of the stiffening member 17 is insufficient to overcome the friction at the seal 27 which holds the member 17 in position. Of course, once the bag of this embodiment is suspended on a rack 14, the hook 15 or the clip 22 also acts to hold or force the member 17 against the bight 25 of the U-shaped upper end portion of the bag.

By reference to the foregoing described figures, it will be apparent that any one of these structures may be produced from a continuous web of material or from a plurality of such webs, coupled with a continuous supply of material comprising the stiffening member 17. Referring now to FIGURE 9, such continuous manufacture is illustrated. Thus a continuous supply of prospective rigidifying members 17' is overlaid on a continuous web of bag material having a prospective leg or side portions 23' and 24'. Portion 23 is folded over the portion 24' to enclose the strip 17 and thereafter heated cutting means is caused to act on the web transversely to its longitudinal direction at the broken line indicated by the numeral 28. When the bag has been severed from the remainder of the web along the line 28, there will be defined a pair of heat sealed edges 27 which not only seal the edges of the bag, but which tack the stiffening member 17 into position at the upper end of the bag. Of course, it is to be understood that additional elements may be enclosed or joined into the end closure in a similar manner.

Referring how to FIGURE 10, there is shown another embodiment of the instant invention which is generally similar to either FIGURE 4 or 5, but with certain additions. In this structure, the stiffening member 17 is disposed between the edge portions 18 and 19 of the bag, but is heat-sealed to only the portion 18. Thus, there is no bond along the opposite face of the stiffening member 17 with the end portion 19. In addition, a header 29, such as of imprinted paper, and of generally inverted U-shaped section, is joined to the outer surfaces of the end portions 18 and 19 of the bag, such as by a heat-seal, to thereby close the bag. If additional space be needed for printed matter 29b, a skirt 29a may be provided for the header 29. A tear string 30 may also be carried by the header 29 or the upper edge of the stiffening member 17 for cutting or tearing open the bight portion of the header 29 to thereby expose the contents of the bag.

Referring now to FIGURE 11, it will be noted that the header 29 may be disposed intermediate the end portions 18 and 19 of the bag. When so disposed, the stiffening member 17 may be held in place as described above with respect to FIGURE 7, or may be heat-sealed on one or two sides as described in behalf of FIGURES 4 and 10 respectively. Thus, in this embodiment, the printed material 29b carried by the header 29 is disposed within the bag.

It is to be understood that various forms of stiffening member may be utilized to achieve the instant results. FIGURE 12 illustrates one additional form of stifiening member. In this figure, a stiffening member having a fiat metallic portion 30 is surrounded by a paper portion 31 extending thereabout. The paper 31 may comprise heat-scalable material or may be coated, or may be uncoated, all similar to the stiffening member 17. The numeral 32 has been used to indicate this type of structure generally. In a preferred form, the metallic portion 30 is yieldable, and is substantially non-resilient so that if it be bent, it will retain its position or shape.

As illustrated by FIGURE 13, the stiflening means 32 may be directly carried between the edge portions 18 and 19 of the bag and joined thereto by any convenient means.

It is also to be understood that the stiffening member 32 may have a length exceeding the extent of the mouth of the bag, and thus have end portions 33 extending therefrom as shown in FIGURE 14. The end portions 33 may be engaged at their lower surfaces by hooks 34 to support the bag in a manner similar to that described for FIG- URE 1. In addition, however, the end portions 33 may be deflected rearwardly about the hooks 34 to lock the bag onto the rack of which the hooks 34 form a part.

Once the bag has been opened, either along a line indicated by the tear string 30 in FIGURE 10, or along a line extending through one of the end portions 18 or 19 and disposed immediately below the stiffening member 17 or 32, the end portions 33 may be used to hold the bag in a closed condition in a well known manner wherein the upper portion of the bag and the stiffening member are folded successively over themselves toward the bottom of the bag and the end portions 33 bent about the folded portion of the bag. It will also be appreciated that the stiffener 17 or a stiffener 32 without the end portions 33 may be so used after the bag has been opened, with of course a portion of the bag material thus also being folded inward.

Referring now to FIGURE 15, it will be noted that the stiffening member 32 may be used with the header 29 between the end portions 18 and 19 in a manner generally similar to that indicated in FIGURE 11.

Referring now to FIGURE 16, an embodiment is illustrated wherein the stiffening member 32 has been disposed within and encircled by a header 35 which completely encircles the stiffening member 32, and which is received between the legs 23 and 24 of a U-shaped upper end portion of a bag, and wherein the header 35 is disposed against the bight 25 of the bag. It will be noted that this structure is thus similar in many respects to that of FIGURE 7.

It will be noted that the various features disclosed herein may be combined in numerous other combinations than those illustrated. Thus, while various minor modifications might be suggested by those versed in the art, it should be understood that I wish to embody within the scope of the patent warranted hereon all such embodiments as reasonably and properly come within the scope of my contribution to the art.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a closed-end structure of a bag, the improvement of: a single flat elongated member of single thickness and of deflection-resistant stiffness comprising a unitized part of the end structure and extending along the mouth of the bag in a single plane, the ends of said member projecting beyond the sides of the bag to define supporting ears, said end structure having an aperture, the axis of which is perpendicular to said member, by which said structure is adapted for being supported in a generally horzontal direction on an edge of said member by external means extending through said aperture for acting on said edge at a single point disposed medially on said flat member, each side of the bag comprising non-defiection-resistant bag material and extending on only one side of said single fiat member and having a support connection therewith along the length of said member for being dependingly supported thereby, said deflection resistant member being of such stiffness as to be operative, when filled and so supported, to hold said end structure in a non-sagging position.

2. In a closed-end structure of a bag, the improvement of: a single flat elongated member of single thickness and of deflection-resistant stiffness comprising a unitized part of the end structure and extending along the mouth of the bag in a single plane, said end structure having an aperture, the axis of which is perpendicular to said member, by which said structure is adapted for being supported in a generally horizontal direction on an edge of said member by external means extending through said aperture for acting on said edge at a single point disposed medially on said flat member, each side of the bag comprising non-deflection-resistant bag material and extending on only one side of said single flat member and having a support connection therewith along the length of said member for being dependingly supported thereby, said defiection resistant member being of such stiffness as to be operative, when filled and so supported, to hold said end structure in a non-sagging position, said connection including flexible bag material of inverted U-shape section receiving said flat member between the legs of the U-shape.

3. In a closed-end structure of a bag, the improvement of: a single flat elongated member of single thickness and of deflection-resistant stiffness comprising a unitized part of the end structure and extending along the mouth of the bag in a single plane, said end structure having an aperture, the axis of which is perpendicular to said member, by which said structure is adapted for being supported in a generally horizontal direction on an edge of said member by external means extending through said aperture for acting on said edge at a single point disposed medially on said flat member, each side of the bag comprising non-deflection-resistant bag material and extending on only one side of said single flat member and having a support connection therewith along the length of said member for being dependingly supported thereby, said deflection resistant member being of such stiffness as to be operative, when filled and so supported, to hold said end structure in a non-sagging position, :said connection including flexible bag material of inverted U-shape section receiving said flat member between the legs of the U-shape, and a tear string separably carried by said flat member and disposed at the bight of said U-shape for opening said closed end, said flat member being free from at least one side of the bag to enable access to the interior of the bag after said string has been pulled.

4. In a closed-end structure of a bag, the improvement of: a single fiat elongated member of single thickness and of deflection-resistant stiffness comprising a unitized part of the end structure and extending along the mouth of the bag in a single plane, said end structure having an aperture, the axis of which is perpendicular to said member, by which said structure is adapted for being supported in a generally horizontal direction on an edge of said member by external means extending through said aperture for acting on said edge at a single point disposed medially on said fiat member, each side of the bag comprising non-deflection-resistant bag material and extending on only one side of said single flat member and having a support connection therewith along the length of said member for being dependingly supported thereby, said deflection resistant member being of such stiffness as to be operative, when filled and so supported, to hold said end structure in a non-sagging position, said connection including a separate flexible header of organic material having supporting connection with the bag, said header having a transverse section, a portion of which defines an inverted U-shape whose bight extends along the mouth of the bag to at least partly define an end extremity of the closed-end structure of the bag, said flat member being disposed within said U-shape substantially against said bight of said header.

5. In a closed-end structure of a bag, the improvement of: a single flat elongated member of single thickness and of deflection-resistant stiffness comprising. a unitized part of the end structure and extending along the mouth of the bag in a single plane, said end structure having an aperture, the axis of which is perpendicular to said member, by which said structure is adapted for being supported in a generally horizontal direction on an edge of said member by external means extending through said aperture for acting on said edge at a single point disposed medially on said flat member, each side of the bag comprising non-deflection-resistant bag material and extending on only one side of said single flat member and having a support connection therewith along the length of said member for being depend-ingly supported thereby, said deflection resistant member being of such stiffness as to be operative, when filled and so supported, to hold said end structure in a non-sagging position, said connection including a flexible header of inverted U-shape section, the legs of which are severally sealed to the sides of the bag along the mouth thereof to thereby close the mouth, said flat member extending between the legs of the U-shape along said header.

6. In a closed-end structure of a bag, the improvement of: a single flat elongated member of single thickness and of deflection-resistant stiffness comprising a unitized part of the end structure and extending along the mouth of the bag in a single plane, said end structure having an aperture, the axis of which is perpendicular to said member, by which said structure is adapted for being supported in a generally horizontal direction on an edge of said member by external means extending through said aperture for acting on said edge at a single point disposed medially on said flat member, each side of the bag comprising non-defiection-resistant bag material and extending on only one side of said single flat member and having a support connection therewith along the length of said member for being dependingly supported thereby, said deflection resistant member being of such stiffness as to be operative, when filled and so supported, to hold said end structure in a non-sagging position, said connection including a separate header completely encircling said flat member, and disposed between the sides of the bag.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 642,302 Davis Jan. 30, 1900 1,067,741 Jones July 15, 1913 1,513,395 Holmes Oct. 28, 1924 1,733,219 Duvall Oct. 29, 1929 2,093,976 Farmer Sept. 21, 1937 2,355,786 Dreher et a1. Aug. 15, 1944 2,480,500 Moore Aug. 30, 1949 2,587,033 Dobbs et al Feb. 26, 1952 2,620,120 Anderson Dec. 2, 1952 2,695,646 Van Wyk Nov. 30, 1954 2,721,023 Phipps Oct. '18, 1955 2,788,121 Ayres Apr. 9, 1957 2,790,591 Rosen Apr. 30, 1957 2,873,905 Denton Feb. 17, 1959 

